Ø Autumn Tour opens on 15 October 2003 at the Palace Theatre, Manchester with Michael Corder’s award-winning production of Cinderella.

Ø Tour continues to the Hippodrome Theatre, Bristol (4 - 8 November) with Cinderella alongside a mixed programme featuring works by Mark Morris, Christopher Hampson and the first performances outside London of Michael Corder’s Melody on the Move.

Ø Liverpool Empire to host only performances outside London this year of Gerald Scarfe and Christopher Hampson’s colourful production of The Nutcracker from 18 - 22 November.

Ø ENB’s traditional London Christmas Season transfers to the Carling Apollo, Hammersmith, opening with Corder’s Cinderella on 10 December. The Nutcracker opens on Christmas Eve.

Ø HIT Entertainment’s Angelina Ballerina extends last year’s sponsorship of The Nutcracker. Angelina Ballerina introduces all matinee performances of The Nutcracker from the stage.

Autumn Tour opens with Cinderella on 15 October 2003 at the Palace Theatre, Manchester

English National Ballet’s Autumn Tour 2003 opens at the Palace Theatre, Manchester with Michael Corder’s critically acclaimed production of Cinderella. This traditional ballet has been thrilling audiences throughout the UK since its premiere in 1996 and is firmly established as one of the favourites in the Company’s repertoire.

Choreographed to Prokofiev’s score, with designs by David Walker and lighting design by Paul Pyant, Corder’s production of the original rags-to-riches fable won both the 1996 Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Production and the 1997 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production.

The first performance in Manchester features the celebrated partnership of Principal Guest Artists Agnes Oaks and Thomas Edur in the roles of Cinderella and the Prince. This production also tours to the Hippodrome Theatre, Bristol (6 – 8 November) and the New Theatre, Oxford (27 – 29 November) before arriving in London for the Christmas season on 10 December. English National Ballet’s annual Christmas season will move out of the West End to the Carling Apollo, Hammersmith this year due to the refurbishment of the Coliseum.

Performances of Cinderella in Bristol and Oxford will be complemented by a diverse mixed programme, showcasing recent additions to the Company’s repertoire – Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, Trapèze and Melody on the Move.

Opening the first performance of the mixed programme in Bristol on 4 November is Mark Morris’ modern classic Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, which received its Company premiere at The Mayflower, Southampton, in November 2002 and makes a welcome return this year. Created for American Ballet Theatre in 1988, Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes features music by Virgil Thomson and presents a unique celebration of the contemporary and the classical, with the pianist centre stage. Design is by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Michael Chybowski.

Christopher Hampson’s Trapèze, created for Tour de Force 2003, also returns to the repertoire this Autumn. Known as Serge Prokofiev’s ‘lost ballet’, Trapèze is English National Ballet’s contribution to the worldwide commemoration during 2003 of the 50th anniversary of Prokofiev’s death.

In 1924, the Russian Romantic Theatre's Director and choreographer Boris Romanov commissioned Prokofiev to compose the music for a small scale ballet, Trapèze. Soon after the ballet’s premiere in Germany the company folded and the ballet was lost. Only part of the music was published, while another two movements went missing. Sections of the score were recently recovered by The Prokofiev Archive in London, and English National Ballet is the first ballet company in the world to be granted permission by the Archive to present the reconstructed ballet in its entirety.

Closing the programme is Michael Corder’s new one-act showstopper, Melody on the Move, which premiered at Sadler’s Wells earlier this summer. An evocative celebration in dance of a bygone British era, a suite of dances will be performed to a selection of British ‘light’ music classics from the heyday of BBC Radio during the 1930s -1950s.

Many popular favourites emerged during this period of musical creativity, and the pieces featured in this one-act ballet include Melody on the Move by Clive Richardson, The Peanut Polka by Robert Farnon, and The Knightsbridge March by Eric Coates, providing an uplifting and entertaining finale to this season’s mixed programme. Design is by Mark Bailey and lighting by Paul Pyant.

Quote:

English National Ballet’s Artistic Director, Matz Skoog, comments:

‘Our audiences are in for a real treat this Autumn with the return to the repertoire of Michael Corder’s beautiful production of Cinderella and also the first regional performances of his latest ballet Melody on the Move. Michael is a true home-grown talent, and his contributions to classical choreography set high standards of excellence.

As a Company we are committed to developing British choreography and investing in the future of the art-form in this country, and our programme this season reflects the diversity of classical ballet today. Another British-born choreographer, Christopher Hampson, is very much part of this contribution to the future of British ballet. Christopher’s first full-length ballet for us, The Nutcracker, and his latest work, Trapèze, demonstrate the enormous contrast and variety we are able to offer our audiences and we hope that everyone will enjoy the chance to revisit old favourites and discover new ones this season.

At the start of this busy and exciting year, I am delighted to welcome eight new dancers, including two ENB School graduates, and also extend our congratulations to Yosvani Ramos who is promoted to become our latest Principal dancer.’

The Nutcracker – Liverpool and London. Angelina Ballerina returns as production sponsor

The Empire Theatre, Liverpool, hosts the only performances outside London this year of Gerald Scarfe and Christopher Hampson’s colourful production of The Nutcracker from 18 - 22 November. Premiered in Bristol in October 2002, The Nutcracker enjoyed a successful regional tour and Christmas season at the London Coliseum entertaining many audience members who were new to ballet.

On the opening nights in Liverpool and in London, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Prince will be danced by Agnes Oaks and Thomas Edur, and Alice Crawford and Gary Avis will perform the roles of Clara and Drosselmeyer.

The Nutcracker opens in London on Christmas Eve for its traditional Christmas season, which will be at the Carling Apollo, Hammersmith this year, and the season closes on 11 January 2004.

HIT Entertainment’s Angelina Ballerina will be introducing all matinee performances of The Nutcracker. The famous ballet-mad mouse will appear on stage before the performance to give an introduction to the story of The Nutcracker and to highlight exciting elements for youngsters to look out for before leaving the children to enjoy the magic of the ballet.

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Matz Skoog comments:

‘We are grateful to HIT Entertainment for their generous support of The Nutcracker and thrilled to be collaborating again this year. Both English National Ballet and HIT Entertainment, through the Angelina Ballerina brand, are committed to introducing younger people to ballet. Last year’s Angelina Ballerina matinees were a sell-out success with thousands of young people loudly expressing their delight as she explained the story of The Nutcracker from the stage.’

Derek Deane’s production of Swan Lake returns in Spring 2004

Derek Deane’s proscenium production of the traditional favourite Swan Lake opens the Spring Tour 2004 at The Mayflower, Southampton, on 2 March.

This production of Swan Lake, with choreography after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov and additional choreography by Frederick Ashton, was adapted in 2000 especially for the proscenium stage from Deane’s arena production of Swan Lake. It was made possible by funding from The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. Design is by Peter Farmer and lighting by Howard Harrison.

Company ranking system changes and promotions, farewells and new dancers

As the new season begins, a simplified system of ranking will be adopted by English National Ballet. The dancers of English National Ballet will now be ranked as follows: Principal, First Soloist, Soloist, First Artist, Artist of the Company.

Congratulations are extended to Yosvani Ramos, who becomes the Company’s youngest male Principal dancer and to Clara Barberá, Fernanda Oliveira and Juanjo Arqués who become Soloists. Adela Ramirez, Lisa Probert and Juan Rodriguez have been promoted to the rank of First Artist.

At the end of the 2002/03 Season, the Company said goodbye to Sarah Arnott, Cornell Callender, Chun Yen-Chia, Caroline Duprot, Emmanuel Roy, Adam Thurlow, Andrei Vassiliev and Angel Wong. The Company extends a warm welcome to new dancers Rachel Fox and Candida Bongini – both graduates of English National Ballet School - as well as to Philip Brock-Atkinson, Leire Cabrera Santos, Jennie Harrington, Maria Kochetkova, Van Le Ngoc and Laurent Liotardo. School graduates now account for 25% of the Company.

The dancers of the Company represent 19 different nationalities, with 72% from countries of the European Union, though the largest contingent by far is the British one, currently making up 33% of the Company.

New dedicated ‘Ticketmaster for ENB’ booking number

This season sees the launch of a dedicated telephone booking number for all English National Ballet performances in Ticketmaster venues. Ticketmaster for ENB* (0870 160 2832) aims to provide our audiences with a ‘one-stop ticket shop’ for all their ticket needs.

Isn't Christmas Eve a little late for ENB to open The Nutcracker? Here in Seattleland, the Nutcracker start Nov 28th. ( Of course America can't have a full month go by without some sort of holiday - even if we have to make one up;) ). Whats the reasoning for the Xmas Eve start?

Dancer Begona Cao joined the English National Ballet in 1997 and was promoted to soloist this year. She will be the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker over Christmas at the Carling Apollo, Hammersmith. Born in London to Spanish parents, she started ballet for fun when she was five. She talks to Sandra Deeble about her life in the company's dance studios in Kensington and Chelsea:

Every morning the class starts at 10am and I usually arrive at 9 or 9.30am. Some people just rush in from the bus and go straight into class and others check emails. You have to dance and manage your life at the same time.

It's a risqué move that may horrifytraditional fans. A trio of leading dancers from the English National Ballet (ENB) are to pose in raunchy, Moulin Rouge-inspired outfits in Britain's biggest-selling "lads' mag".

Their appearance, sans tutus and decorum, on the pages of FHM magazine is only the beginning of an attempt to attract new audiences for the ballet's productions. One of the trio, Joanne Clarke, already has experience of adopting seductive poses to promote the ballet. In 1999, she appeared in a black PVC catsuit in a photograph to publicise a production of Swan Lake.

The fundraiser who was helped by a dancing mouse by hugh thompson for The Times

TRADITIONALLY the English National Ballet (ENB) relies on about £400,000 a year sponsorship out of its £9 million budget. But the year 2000-1 was a bad time to raise money, as the main City sponsors were licking their wounds after the dotcom and stock- market collapse. It was at this time that the ENB decided to raise its sponsorship target to £600,000 in order to fund a new production of its Christmas 2002 showcase The Nutcracker.

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